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A review by lpm100
Father's Arcane Daughter by E.L. Konigsburg
funny
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A Parent's Book Review
Father's Arcane Daughter
5+/5 stars
"A book simultaneously written for parents and children; Strongly recommended"
*******
I really do love Konigsburg's books, because when you read them as an adolescent then you read one thing
But, if you read them as an adult, you will read a totally different thing .
This was one of her few that I had not read, and I decided to scratch that itch several decades later. (I remember this book because I had to look up the word "arcane" When I was about 12 or 13.)
It was $118 pages, and could be read through in about an hour and a half.
Scratching this itch was so low cost, that there was no other choice than to do it.
Themes dealt with:
1. Alzheimer's / Dementia (When people age, the memories of breakfast are in distinct, but the memories of decades ago are as clear as a bell.)
2. A Devouring Mother (A lot of times a mother will deliberately handicap her own children for personal reasons. In this case, it might be shame. In other cases, it might be fear that the child will launch and abandon them. I've seen it before.)
3. Appropriate therapy as a way to live a normal life. (Some people make a fetish out of being disabled and never live a normal life; but others are perfectly capable and treat therapy as a way to achieve normalcy.)
The book is so short, that if I gave any plot details I would be giving away the secret.
Suffice it to say, that from a parent's perspective it is a clean and kosher book for children. And it has plenty of room for parent-child discussion, and food for thought.
As is the case with all of Konigsburg's books up into this point, it is full of a rich assortment of aphorisms and generally pithy expressions.
And, of course, a new vocabulary word or two.
Included below.
Quotes:
1. When shadows are all he has, a prisoner learns to tell time by the light coming in through a slit under the door. Facial expressions were the primary Carmichael language. English was second.
2. I wanted, at last, to learn the shape of that shadow. I thought that it would grow smaller when exposed to full light. Shadows are supposed to.
3. If you're raised inside a huge shelter, one that you've never seen from the outside, how would you know that it was a prison unless you saw it from the outside?
4. There were more people who knew what to read than there were people who read.
5. Money is nice because it represents margins. Margins of time: no rushing, being able to have someone pick up the details. Margins of time and margins of space: large rooms, ample wardrobe, not having to match your wardrobe with the laundry schedule. That's what money buys."
Vocabulary:
larrup
pompon
Devonshire sandwich
cenazoic
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
galumph
golliwog
Father's Arcane Daughter
5+/5 stars
"A book simultaneously written for parents and children; Strongly recommended"
*******
I really do love Konigsburg's books, because when you read them as an adolescent then you read one thing
But, if you read them as an adult, you will read a totally different thing .
This was one of her few that I had not read, and I decided to scratch that itch several decades later. (I remember this book because I had to look up the word "arcane" When I was about 12 or 13.)
It was $118 pages, and could be read through in about an hour and a half.
Scratching this itch was so low cost, that there was no other choice than to do it.
Themes dealt with:
1. Alzheimer's / Dementia (When people age, the memories of breakfast are in distinct, but the memories of decades ago are as clear as a bell.)
2. A Devouring Mother (A lot of times a mother will deliberately handicap her own children for personal reasons. In this case, it might be shame. In other cases, it might be fear that the child will launch and abandon them. I've seen it before.)
3. Appropriate therapy as a way to live a normal life. (Some people make a fetish out of being disabled and never live a normal life; but others are perfectly capable and treat therapy as a way to achieve normalcy.)
The book is so short, that if I gave any plot details I would be giving away the secret.
Suffice it to say, that from a parent's perspective it is a clean and kosher book for children. And it has plenty of room for parent-child discussion, and food for thought.
As is the case with all of Konigsburg's books up into this point, it is full of a rich assortment of aphorisms and generally pithy expressions.
And, of course, a new vocabulary word or two.
Included below.
Quotes:
1. When shadows are all he has, a prisoner learns to tell time by the light coming in through a slit under the door. Facial expressions were the primary Carmichael language. English was second.
2. I wanted, at last, to learn the shape of that shadow. I thought that it would grow smaller when exposed to full light. Shadows are supposed to.
3. If you're raised inside a huge shelter, one that you've never seen from the outside, how would you know that it was a prison unless you saw it from the outside?
4. There were more people who knew what to read than there were people who read.
5. Money is nice because it represents margins. Margins of time: no rushing, being able to have someone pick up the details. Margins of time and margins of space: large rooms, ample wardrobe, not having to match your wardrobe with the laundry schedule. That's what money buys."
Vocabulary:
larrup
pompon
Devonshire sandwich
cenazoic
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
galumph
golliwog